Former Georgia officer who killed black man gets 1-year prison sentence
WOODBINE, Ga. — A former Georgia police officer who fatally shot an unarmed, fleeing black man was sentenced to one year in prison Friday, nearly two weeks after a jury acquitted him of manslaughter charges but found him guilty of violating his oath of office.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett in Camden County near the Georgia-Florida state line also gave Zechariah Presley four years of probation. Though spared from a manslaughter conviction, the former Kingsland police officer, who is white, still had faced up to five years in prison for his actions in the June 2018 killing of Tony Green, 33.
Before sentencing, Green’s relatives told the judge the shooting and verdict had divided their community along racial lines. They called for the maximum fiveyear sentence.
Presley’s wife said her husband was the “backbone” of their family, and their sons would be devastated if he were away longer.
Scarlett said he suspected neither side was satisfied with the indictment or the verdict.
“If we’re looking for this court’s sentence to change those fixed opinions, unfortunately, I don’t think it will,” he said.
Presley’s sentencing came days after a jury found another white Georgia police officer, Robert “Chip” Olsen, guilty of aggravated assault and other charges in the 2015 shooting death of Anthony Hill, an unarmed black man who was naked when Olsen encountered him.
An autopsy found Green was struck by eight bullets — one to his chest, the rest to his back and hips. Green also had small amounts of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and a tranquilizer in his system.